Laxative auxiliary food flakes and process of making same



Patented Apr. 6, 1937 LAXATIVE AUXILIARY soon, FLAKES PROCESS OF MAKINGSAME Thomas W. Halliday, Los Angeles, Calif.

' No Drawing. Application August 19, 1932, Serial 14 Claims. (01.167-56) The present invention relates to flaked laxative auxiliary foodproducts and methods of making the same, and more particularly to flakedproducts prepared from seeds commonly known as psyllium or seedspromoting similar physiological action such as Plantago psyllium,Plantago ispaghula, Ldllernantia r'oyaleana and the like. The object ofthis invention is to provide a product of the above kind wherein thetough m outer coating or hull of the seed is broken up and renderednon-irritating to the intestinal tract; to provide a product that iseasy to consume either alone or mixed with other food prodnets; and toincorporate in the product flavoring 5 materials to render it morepleasing to the taste and, for indicated cases, to includephenolphthalein or similar non-habit forming substances.

By way of illustration, I shall describe my invention as applied to thetreatment of Plantdgo psyllium seeds which I preferably employ in makingmy auxiliary food flakes. Plantago psyllium seeds are small, hard,oblong seeds about 1 mm.

wide by 2 mm. long and resemble fleas from which the Greeks named them.The outer shell or hull is comparatively thick and tough. The innerportion of the seed orendosperm consists of a cellular structure made upof minute cells. When a seed is placed in water a mucilaginous orgelatinous material exudes from the outer walls. In the presence ofsuflicient moisture this gelatinous material will produce a volume ofthick, viscous substance many times greater than the bulk of theoriginal seed. This gelatinous material is found to be of particularbenefit in promoting elimination from the intestines. When psylliumseeds are taken in their natural state the. sharp hulls have been knownto produce irritation in the intestinal tract. The gelatinous substancewith which the seeds surround themseparated in their passage thru theintestines selves in the presence of moisture may become 80% can begiven .the seeds without freeing thus exposing the sharp seeds. There isa marked tendency for these sharp seeds to pack in pockets or folds ofthe intestinal tract and become a source of irritation and distress. Bycrushingthe seeds into thin flakes of relatively large area, say, threeto five millimeters diameter, the tough outer hull is broken up andthinned out to such an extent its small and pliant particles pass thruthe intestinal tract without irritation. While the seeds are about asattractive in appearance and as diflicult to handle as the pro verbialflea from which they are named, the flakes readily lend themselves tohuman consumption. They may be suspended in water and readily swallowed,mixed with other foods and eaten with practically no indication of theirpresence or they may be eaten without any other aids, this is especiallytrue in flakes that have been flavored.

With the above objects in view, my invention, stated in general terms,includes determining the moisture content and tempering the seeds, ifnecessary, and adding part of the flavoring, if desired, at this time,then passing the seeds thru difierential rolls to break up the hulls andtoproduce flakes of comparatively large area, adding the balance of theflavoring materials, and drying at a moderate temperature.

As an illustrative example of my process, I first determine the moisturecontent of the seeds by the usual method. I have found that the.psyllium seeds obtained from the various sources of supply usually havea moisture content of from ten to fifteen percent. To prepare the.flakes the seeds must have a suiflcient moisture content so they willnot break up in the rolls and yet not contain enough moisture so as tocause the gelatinous material to exude. Where salt, sugar, malt syrup orsimilar flavoring materials are to be added it is desirable, as will beshown later, to have a relatively high moisture content in the seedswhen they are flaked. I have found that by adding the liquid used tomoisten the seeds very slowly and stirring or agitating, or by adding aportion at a time, stirring until the moisture is thoroughlydisseminated thru the mass and letting the mixture stand for from thirtyminutes to an hour between the addition of each portion that a moisturecontent 01 about 35 their gelatinous content and causing them to sticktogether. When the flakes are prepared for diabetic and similarconditions and sugars and the like can not be used in flavoring I preferan initial moisture content of about fifteen percent. It is obvious thatwhen the raw material happens to carry about fifteen percent moisturethat no tempering is necessary. When it is desired to incorporate salt,sugar, malt sugar and the like in the finished product I prefer amoisture content of abouttwenty five percent. As an example of tamperingso as to avoid bringin out the gelatinous content to an objectionabledegree I will assume pounds of seed running 13 percent moisture andbring it up to 25 percent moisture. 'I'hisv means; for each 100poundsinitial, we must add 16 poimds of water or other liquid. If thisamount of liquid were all added at once, it would be very diflicult toprevent portions of theseeds 55 should be desired the final additionsshould be made in quantities of not over one or two pounds of liquid ata time. If salt is desired in the flavoring of the flakes it may beadded to the water used in tempering. I'prefer about two pounds of l5salt to each 100 pounds of seeds.

When the seeds are thoroughly tempered they are passed thru flakingrolls. These rolls are preferably smooth and run at a difierentialspeed. I have found that with one roll turning about fifty percentfaster than the other a very -satisfa'ctory flake is obtained.

There are several ways of incorporating the flavoring materials with theflakes. I prefer to use what might be termed a dry method. In

passing the flakes thru the rolls they are heated to some extent, andwhen the moisture content is high-20 to '30 percentthey come out in awarm and moist or humid condition. Flavoring materials such as salt,sugar, malt sugar and the like may be added and, if in a finely dividedor powdered state, will readily adhere to the flakes.

If ordinary sugar or dextrose is used, I prefer about twenty pounds ofsugar to 100 pounds of flakes. Another method of introducing theflavoring materials that I have employed is to make the flakes fromseeds with a moisture content of around fifteen percent, mix the finelypowdered flavoring materials with the flakes and place the mixture in asteam bath at a temperature of about 200 F. (stirring constantly or atfrequent intervals to prevent the flakes from sticking together and toinsure uniform moistening) until the flavoring materials are absorbed byor adhere flrmly to the flakes. When desired, for indicated cases,phenolphthalein may be added and it is readily incorporated with theflakes by mixing it in a finely powdered state with the other flavoringmaterials. I have used other means of adding flavoring materials such asspraying hot solutions of salt, sugar, malt sugar and the like to thinlayers of flakes but since similarity of purpose is obvious and the modeof application evident, detailed description is not necessary.

After the flakes have been flavored they are then dried to give them apleasant crispy texture and to insure keeping. In drying the flakes itis important that too high temperatures be not employed as there isdanger of breaking down the gelatinous forming structure. 'I prefer atemperature of around 200 F. My te ts show that while'moderatetemperatures up to 210 to 215 F. have no deleterious action that atemperature of 250 F. will seriously impair the gelatinous formingproperties of the flakes in a few minutes.

While I have herein specifically described my process as employed in thetreatment of Plantago psyllium it will be readily understood by those 7skilled in the art that it is equally applicable in the treatment ofsimilar gelatinous forming seeds used for promoting similarphysiological action, and some of the steps may in some cases beomitted.

What I claim is:

1. A method of preparing gelatinous forming seeds for physiologicalconsumption, including the steps of tempering the seeds to apredetermined moisture content and subjecting the seeds to the action ofcrushing rolls to produce flakes, and then drying the flakes at atemperature below that at which the gelatinous forming property of theseeds is impaired.

2. A method of preparing gelatinous forming seeds for physiologicalconsumption, including the steps of tempering the seeds to apredetermined moisture content, subjecting the seeds to the action ofcrushing rolls to produce flakes having a surface area of from three tofifteen times greater than the seeds, and then drying the flakes at atemperature below that at which the gelatinous forming property of theseeds is impaired.

3. A method of preparing gelatinous forming seeds for physiologicalconsumption, including the steps of tempering the seeds to apredetermined moisture content, subjecting the seeds to the action ofcrushing rolls to produce flakes, and then drying the flakes at atemperature below 250 F.

4. A method of preparing psyllium seeds for physiological consumption,including the steps of tempering the psyllium seeds to a predeterminedmoisture content, subjecting the seeds to the action of crushing rollsto produce flakes, and then drying the seeds at a temperature below thatat which the gelatinous forming property of the psyllium seeds isimpaired.

5. A process of preparing psyllium seeds for. physiological consumption,which consists in tempering the seeds by adding water thereto toincrease the moisture content of the seeds without bringing out thegelatinous content of the seeds, allowing the seeds to stand until ofuniform moisture content, crushing the tempered seeds between rolls toproduce flakes, and then drying the flakes at a temperature below thatat which the gelatinous. forming'property of the seeds is impaired.

6. A process of preparing psyllium seeds for physiological consumption,which consists in tempering the seeds by adding water thereto toincrease the moisture content of the seeds without bringing out thegelatinous content of the seeds, allowing the seeds to stand until ofuniform moisture content, crushing the tempered seeds between rolls toproduce flakes, and adding to the flakes flavoring material.

'7.- A method of preparing a laxative of gelatinous forming seeds forphysiological consumption, including th steps of subjecting the seeds tothe action of or ng rolls to produce large thin flakes, adding flnelydivided phenolphthalein to the flakes, subjecting the mixture tomoisture to incorporate the phenolphthalein in the flakes, and

then drying the flakes at a temperature below that at which thegelatinous forming property of the seeds is impaired.

8. A method of preparing a laxative oi gelatinous forming" seeds forphysiological consumption, including the steps of subjecting the seedsto the action of crushing rolls to produce large thin flakes, adding afinely divided laxative compound crushing rolls to produce large, thinflakes, adding flavoring matter to the flakes, subjecting the flakes andflavoring matter to the action of moisture, and then drying the flakesat a temperature below that at which the gelatinous forming property ofthe seeds is impaired;

10. A process of preparing gelatinous forming seeds for physiologicalconsumption, including the steps of tempering the seeds to apredetermined moisture content, adding flavoring matter to the seeds,subjecting the seeds to'the action of crushing rolls to produce flakes,and then drying the flakes at a temperature below that at which thegelatinous forming property of the seeds is impaired.

11. A laxative auxiliary physiological product consisting of flakes ofpsyllium seeds or other seeds having the property of producing withmoisture a gelatinous or mucilaginous material consisting of flakes ofsaid seeds, the surface area of which is from three to fifteen timesthat of the seeds, and including the hull in disrupted, thin, pliantparticles, and the crushed endosperm of the seeds.

12. A laxative auxiliary physiological flake of psyllium seed consistingof particles of the psyllium seed rolled in flakes and dried andretaining the endosperm and the hull of the seed with its property offorming a gelatinous or mucilaginous material with moisture unimpaired,and its hull in disrupted, thin, pliant particles.

13. A laxative auxiliary physiological flake of psyllium seed consistingof dried particles of psyllium seeds rolled in flakes, and flavoringmatter, and retaining the endosperm and the hull of the seed with itsproperty of forming gelatinous or mucilaginous material with moistureunimpaired, and its hull in disrupted thin, pliant particles.

14. A laxative auxiliary physiological flake of psyllium seed consistingof dried particles of psyllium seed, flavoring matter, and a laxativematerial in flakes, and retaining the endosperm and the hull of the seedwith its property of forming a gelatinous or mucilaginous material withmoisture unimpaired, and its hull in disrupted thin, pliant particles.

THOMAS W. HALLIDAY.

